Lilian’s in Lily’s Kitchen

I have made it through a week’s of ‘almost-vegetarian’ meals. I said almost because if there are tiny shrimps hidden in mee hoon or sardine in curry puffs or fish in laksa soup, then, I ‘may forgetfully’ ate them.

You see, I am not obliged nor restricted by religion. I took up the vege meals because I think I can make it for 40 days. I tell you, it is not easy. So, I gave myself the leeway to ‘eat all you want’ on Sundays.

Vietnamese vegetarian rolls. Hardcore vege with Thai basil. It actually tastes good when dipped in the sweet and sour sauce.

I heard about Lily’s Vegetarian Kitchen but only ventured there today. It is a nice, spacious, airy, airconditioned fast foods restaurant. None of those packed economy rice vegetarian kopitiams or those super expensive vegetarian restaurants. They have a wide variety of dishes and the prices are reasonable with big portion.

My eldest son is joining me in this adventure of no meat, no seafood diet. So, it is not so lonely going green.

He had the vegetarian bee thai bak or lou shu fun. I am surprised the soup is rather flavourful, with mushrooms and seaweed, I think.

Meanwhile, I ordered the ang chow mee sua. And it tastes good. In fact, better than the real one which I had in Penang. Over here, not many people sells ang chow mee sua. Ang chow is some red rice fermented or something like that.

I saw other patrons having western foods and also indian foods. When I walked into Lily’s Kitchen, a waft of ‘real chicken’ rice fragrance greets me. So, that’s quite comforting for someone missing meats.

Another shot of the hardcore green vege Vietnamese spring rolls.

The other thing that I notice a lot of people order is the lotus rice. It looks good and I shall return to try it out next time.

You can access Lily’s Kitchen from Jalan Macalister because it is on Madras Lane which is a one-way street.

Address : 98, Ground Floor, Noble House, Madras Lane, Penang

They are open 9 am to 9 pm and close on Monday and all 1st and 15th of the lunar month.

One week done, one more month to go until April 22nd (which is Good Friday).

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Recipe : A minty and creamy green pea soup

I have a pot of lamb stock. The bones of the leg of lamb which I roasted for Christmas has been turned into a pot of flavourful stock after I added onions, tomatoes, carrots and celery. I freeze them into small portions and they are great for making soup, gravy or stew.

My son then came up with the idea of making green pea soup. A quick search in our recipe books and internet showed that it is really easy to make those green globs. I grabbed a packet of frozen green peas and a packet of mint leaves from the supermarket shelf and we are ready to test out in our kitchen.

Recipe for green pea and mint soup

2 cups stock

1 cup green peas (if you are using frozen ones, you need to cook first, if you are using canned ones, you can just dump into the food processor)

1 handful of mint leaves

A bit of chopped garlic and onion

1 tiny cube of butter

1/2 cup of cream or milk

Salt/pepper to taste

_________________________________________

Heat butter and sweat the onion and garlic. Add in green peas and stir till you are sure it is cooked. You don’t want the ‘green smell’ of uncooked peas, you know? However, don’t over cook it or it will turn an ugly yellow. Just taste the peas and you can tell if it is cooked.

Dump everything, including the cream and fresh mint leaves into the food processor and blend till smooth. If you like your fibres, then fine. But I hate the thought of the pea husk (or skin) fermenting in my belly, giving me major flatulence fart fest (3Fs!) so I strained the liquid.

Before serving, heat through over low fire, taking care not to boil it. Season with salt and pepper. Adjust the soup as the peas may cause the green goo to form into an ugly mess. Add some water or milk to make it ‘slurpable’ and not looking like blobs of green stuffs.

The result is a nice, refreshing creamy soup that is hearty and yet, not too thick. The above photo is intentionally touch up with Flickr – Picnik.

This is the original photo. The cream I am using is not so fresh anymore so I dare not use the fresh cream to give it a swirl on the surface. Otherwise, it will look lovely.

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Tangkak beef balls noodle in Melaka

It is very hard to please Penangites like me. Hate us but we have ‘higher standards’ when come to food taste. Or maybe we are very faithful to our little island, we always have that little biasness when it comes to other states’ foods.

So, I heard people raving about Tangkak beef noodles. They told me it is so, so nice. They have never tasted Penang beef noodles, obviously.

The only selling point that beats Penang is they are halal. The Tangkak beef noodle sold in Melaka is manned by Muslims so our Muslim friends can finally have a sampling of beef noodles, Chinese style. Usually, the Malay version is much spicier with lots of cinnamon, cloves, star anise and other spices flavour. Whereas, this beef noodle does not have the overpowering spicy taste but just the hearty flavour of beef.

We drove around Melaka town looking for the place and found it after a few turns. It is a clean, orderly shop very much like fast-food restaurants.

Usually, in Penang, my family like our beef noodles served separately. I.e. bowls of noodles with some soya sauce and then, we get a huge bowl of innards, balls, fillet, tendon and raw beef swimming in a delicous, piping hot soup with lots of coriander leaves. This way, each family members eat only what they like. We have quite a good understanding, whereby I like tendons and innards while some kids like balls and others like the beef.

But Tangkak beef noodles have no such style. It is served in individual bowls and you have to order the balls seperately.

The soup is rather watered down if you compared with Penang version. It is darker in colour and has a hint of spice in it.

So, if you have eaten the Kang Beef House beef noodles or the one at Perak Road beef noodles or the one at the Bomba in Chulia Street gu bak koay teow (all non-halal though), then, you won’t be raving about Tangkak Beef Noodles.

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Related posts: The much talk about Kang Beef House steamboat and noodle ...Tempting beef balls versus fake eggs ...Melaka Darul Mamee ...Japanese cold green cha noodle ...Perak Road Beef Koay Teow ...I fry my own Hokkien Noodle (Tai Lok Meen) ...I went to Melaka and all I ate was.. ...Food pics from Melaka ...Sawi flowers and a simple fried noodle ...In love with octopus balls and flying fish (bonito) ...

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Bella Marino at Straits Quay

Ouch! I don’t always ‘give constructive opinions’ to restaurants because bad reviews may cause them great embarrassment.

But Bella Marino at Straits Quay better take this positively and hope they improve because Penang really lacks good Italian restaurants.

Let’s start with dessert. The tiramisu is a rip off. Ours is part of the dinner set but still, there is no excuse. It tastes like pudding with a heavy coating of cocoa powder. Nothing close to tiramisu.

The asparagus cream soup is what got me off on a bad start. It is sooooo salty, we added our drinking water into it. The chicken cube or whatever artificial flavourings added into their stock is overpowering and there is nothing that smells remotely like asparagus. They use milk and not cream.

The pizza crust is too sourish with strong yeasty smell.

The pasta is something a first year chef student can dish up. Seriously…how hard is it to prepare a plate of decent pasta?

The wagyu beef is tough though I had asked for medium rare. Though blood is oozing, it is still chewy and sinewy. And why oh why they smothered a piece of beef with so much salt and mustard sourish sauce?

The veges are all over cooked. And they slapped a chunk of mashed potatoes under the beef. Doh…

Conclusion – Don’t trust food bloggers anymore. They take nice nice looking photos and then, say this is my meat, this is my soup. And they offer nothing about taste, value for money or anything that says it is their opinions.

I remembered reading one food blogger recommending the tiramisu from Bella Marino. And another one said how nice the pasta are. So, I was fooled.

However, for saving grace, the coffee is good. Their serving staffs are friendly, helpful and speedy. So, give them a chance. And if you are the owner of Bella Marino who have invested heavily in this outlet, do get whoever is cooking out of your kitchen and get better chefs. He definitely doesn’t have the touch. Foods so salty, I am now thirsty.

Oh I forget to mention The dinner set is RM69.90++ and RM39.90++ for the beef and pasta set.

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Brandy pineapple fruit cake

I am going to re-post this fruitcake recipe because I love to eat this fruitcake but only bake it once a year. And every year, I forget where I store it and can’t find the recipe.

So, here goes my never fail pineapple fruit cake moistened with lots and lots of brandy.

RECIPE

Pineapple Fruit Cake

Heat oven to 180 deg C
Line a large cake tin. (Size : 20 cm square tin) or use two small tins

1 can (abt 250-300 gm drained weight) of pineapple rings (squeeze the syrup) and cut into small pieces

375 gm mixed fruits (the weight of a box) * soak in 5 tablespoons of brandy 3 days before baking. Keep in refigerator till needed

100 gm brown sugar (the light brown one like castor sugar)

150 gm butter

Put all the above into a pot and cook over low fire till sugar and butter melt. Leave to cool.

Then add:

2 large eggs

250 gm self-raising flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Mix well. (see? no need beating or anything like that) Bake in 180 deg C oven for 1 hour. Test with a satay stick. If it comes out clean, then cake is baked. Remove from oven and drizzle with 3 tablespoon of brandy while the cake is still hot. Cake tastes best if left for a day or two, wrapped with aluminium foil. Do not attempt to cut the cake while it is still fresh because it will crumble. Wrapping it in aluminium foil and soak in brandy will make the cake moist and smells heavenly.

In place of brandy, one can use orange juice. However, the cake will not keep well.

The original recipe was posted way back in 2005 under my fruitcake recipe at my old food blog. That’s a six years old blog post!

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Capturing Penang

Greetings from Penang! I’ve been home for almost a month and am enjoying every minute of it. Today, I wanted to introduce you to Reese and Mark of Capturing Penang, a wonderful blog about Penang and their journey of discovery in my homeland. Many Penangites left home to pursue our dreams, but we all share one thing in common— we miss our island deeply and eventually, we all realize that Penang is such a special place that there is nowhere else quite like it, and we will always call Penang home regardless of where we are. Reese and Mark tell their stories through Capturing Penang and in this remarkable guest post. Please read on and check out their YouTube videos (MUST WATCH) and you will understand why Yahoo! selects Penang as the #8 island to explore before you die. Enjoy!

A few days into Chinese New Year, Mark and I headed to breakfast at Toh Soon – a rusty, bustling coffee shop in an alleyway along Campbell Street in Penang, serving roti bakar with kaya (charcoal-roasted thick bread with coconut jam), soft-boiled eggs with soy sauce & white pepper, and strong local coffee to give you that morning kick.

When we walked in, there was a film crew around the first table, and we were surprised to spot a familiar face seated among them – Bee from RasaMalaysia…

Bee had arrived the week before from California, for a two month visit to the island that she will always call home.  At that moment, I realized it was exactly one year since I moved from Singapore back to Penang with the same goal.  It would be a journey that would draw me into the thriving cultural and arts scene of George Town after its recent listing as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  A journey that I reveal through stories, photos, and videos, on my blog – Capturing Penang.

However, I didn’t expect this a year ago.  While Mark was confident about the move, I couldn’t push my apprehension away.  I had left seven years earlier, like so many other Penangites, in search of bigger and better things.  I had convinced myself that if I ever returned to live in Penang, it would only mean a step back in my life.

But by the first week, to my relief and exhilaration, I felt the energy of a revitalized Penang.  Not only from the millions of visitors every year to the island, but also from the locals, like myself, who had taken this wonderful island for granted for too long.

I love saying it now – Penang is an exciting place!

You can experience the transformation in the shophouses and temples and bungalows that have been meticulously restored and opened to the public like the Peranakan Mansion, Suffolk House, Teochew Ancestral Temple, and Sun Yat Sen Base.  In the quiet, verdant hills on the northwest corner of the island that have been protected under the National Park and awarded at the Tropical Spice Garden.  Through the traditional trades that have been recognized and championed like the nyonya beaded shoemakers, spice mill grinders, wooded signboard engravers, popiah skin makers, bertam blind weavers, songkok makers and more.  During the huge festivals like Chinese New Year and Thaipusam that have erupted with pride and exuberance, and in new festivals that have sprung up like George Town Festival in July, George Town City Day on January 1st, and Mark’s favorite – Durian Festival in June.

But you know what I’ve realized?  As much as this renewal has shined a spotlight on Penang in recent years, what makes this island truly remarkable comes from what hasn’t changed, and should never change – its cultural diversity.

You’ll experience it in the distinct faces that pass you by on the streets and down the five-foot-walkways, in the myriad of languages you may never place, in the shifting colors of the endless parade of festivals, and yes, in Penang’s famous street food.

Oh yes, the food.

The Chinese, Nyonya, Indian, and Malay food that Bee styles and promotes on Rasa Malaysia for you to drool over, and challenges you to prepare.  The sizzling, steamy food that you can find at every street corner in Penang being whipped up by every sifu with a spatula.

Curious now?  I have a challenge for you too.  Travel to Penang.

But you may then ask – When?

If Yahoo Travel has anything to say about it, which just listed Penang as one the Top 10 islands in the world to explore before you die, I know the answer is – Now.

See you in Penang!

YouTube Videos:

Eating in George Town Part 1Eating in George Town Part 2Thaipusam

Reese (& Mark too)
@CapturingPenang.com

Note from Rasa Malaysia: If you are planning a trip to Penang, check out our Penang Private Tour services.

Braised Mushroom with Dashi

Braised Mushroom with Dashi pictures (1 of 6)

I love mushrooms for as long as I can remember, even when I was a little kid. I love mushrooms of all sorts, shiitake, button, enoki, straw mushrooms—canned or fresh. One of the great things about the United States is that I can get fresh mushrooms easily. They are readily available at the market…

Whenever I get some fresh shiitake mushrooms at the market, I always make this Japanese-style braised mushrooms with dashi and mirin. The end result is a very simple side dish that is absolutely umamilicious. You will know what I mean if you attempt this braised mushroom recipe at home.

Braised Mushrooms with Dashi Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup dashi
1 tablespoon sake
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
4 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems trimmed

Method:

Add all the ingredients (except the mushroom) into a saucepan with a low to medium heat. As soon as it bubbles, add the mushrooms into the saucepan.

Cook until the dashi reduces to about half the original quantity, by then, the dashi stock would become slightly sticky because of the mushrooms. Turn off the heat, let cool. Cut the mushrooms to thin slices. This dish is best when served cold or at room temperature.

Cook’s Note:

You can get my dashi recipe in the Nabe (Yosenabe) post.

Mango Chutney

For the longest time, I don’t quite get the idea of chutney and I certainly have no idea how to make it. That’s the reason why I have invited Kulsum of Journey Kitchen to share her Mango Chutney recipe with me. Journey Kitchen is another Indian blog that I have discovered recently; there are just so much to learn from the blog about Indian cuisine and also Bohra cuisine. Please welcome Journey Kitchen to Rasa Malaysia.

When Bee suggested chutney for this guest post, I was elated. I can handle chutney I thought to myself. But when she suggested mango chutney, I was a bit hesitating at first. Not because I didn’t have a recipe but because it is my mom’s recipe. My mom is not very comfortable about sharing her recipes online. Don’t get her wrong, she loves sharing in general but she never got “internet”. After a bit explaining about our lovely “food blogger’s community” she almost came in terms with it but it took a little more than just explaining (read emotional blackmailing and reminder of some sentimental childhood stories)…

Chutney’s form an inevitable part of Indian’s daily meal whether its breakfast, lunch or dinner.  They come in all forms and differ in taste and texture depending on the ingredients used and cooking method. Chutneys can be made with fruits, herbs, vegetables or combination of them. Unlike pickles (which is another great condiment to have), chutney are much easier to make and generally made fresh and last for few days to weeks. Three important elements for most chutney is sweet, sour and spicy (others are salty and spicy). It is this balance of flavors that I think has made Indian chutneys worldwide phenomena. The sweet element is often introduced by using fruits like mango in our case, dry fruits, jaggery or other types of sugar. The sourness comes from adding vinegar, tamarind, lemon or lime. The spicy element is added by using fresh or dry chilies, or powder. Other spices like cumin, fennel, black peppercorns and cinnamon are often used in chutneys for flavoring.

Mango chutney can be remarkably versatile. Spread it on sandwiches, use it as marinate, use with steak or chicken or just dip your fries in it. Or well if you are like me spread it on baguette with some roast chicken and lettuce. Other great way is to use it as a base for curries to add that great unique dimension. The only limit is your imagination.

Thank you Bee for letting me share your gorgeous space and suggesting mango chutney, a must have for every fridge.

Mango Chutney Recipe
Yields about 340 g

Ingredients

1 ripe but firm green mango (450 -500 g)
1 sticks cinnamon (about 2 inch)
2 whole cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 cardamom pods, cracked
1 tsp ginger, grated
2-3 whole dry red chilies
1 clove garlic, crushed
3/4 cup demerara sugar (if you have access to Indian jaggery use 3/4 cup- 1 cup powdered jaggery depending on the sweetness)
1/2 cup vinegar
3/4 cup water
1 tsp salt

Method:

Cut the mango into 1 inch cubes and for chunky chutney, keep some pieces about 2 inch.  If you are looking for smooth, cut them all in same size.

Using a piece of thin muslin cloth, tie up the spices into a bundle. Cook the mango, spices (in the muslin cloth), water, ginger and garlic until the mango is tender. Some pieces will disintegrate into the water. Takes about 10 minutes.

Add the vinegar, sugar, salt and dry chilies. I like to break 1 red chilly into flakes and keep 1 whole. If you want and are feeling adventurous you can go up on the chilies. The sugar requirement may also vary depending on the sweetness of your mango and personal preference. Feel free to reduce or add as per your liking.

Cook for about 30 -35 minutes until the chutney is thickened. Squeeze every bit you can from the cloth and discard it. Transfer to sterilized jars while still hot. Don’t put the lid, until the chutney cools. It keeps well for 4 weeks in the refrigerator.

Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken pictures (1 of 4)

I am sure you all remember Sukaina from Lick My Spoon who recently shared her naan recipe with us. Today, she is sharing yet another popular Indian recipe that we all love–butter chicken. Butter chicken is often served at Indian buffet restaurants and it’s easily my favorite Indian dish. I always ask for an extra serving of naan to sop up the creamy and rich sauce of butter chicken. Thanks to Lick My Spoon for her butter chicken recipe. Enjoy!

After my naan post recently, I thought it would only be fair to share a butter chicken recipe with you. After all, you can’t have one without the other. I can’t tell you the number of times I have gone to an Indian restaurant where my other half ordered a butter chicken and begged, ”Can you make this at home?’ I had no choice but to learn how to make this. So I turned to the best chef I know when it comes to Indian cooking- my mom. She has this wonderful knack of trying a meal at a restaurant and then replicating it at home. I slightly modified her recipe by adding a few more spices…

I once read somewhere that butter chicken was created when a hungry man walked into an Indian restaurant and they had no curry left. The chef decided to whip up a quick meal by throwing a tandoori chicken into a simple gravy of butter, tomatoes and a few spices. And thus, butter chicken was born. Also known as murgh makhani, this is curry not for the faint hearted- literally! Originating from Mughlai cuisine, it has lashings of butter (duh!) and cream to give it that dreamy, creamy texture. This is one dish where skimping on these two essential ingredients is not recommended. What I love about this recipe is that it doesn’t contain any food coloring to give it that gleaming red color.

Many people love eating Indian food at restaurants but are often intimidated about trying it at home. This recipe is super simple so you’ll have no excuse to order take out again. It is best served with steamed rice or butter naan.

Butter Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

500 grams boneless chicken, cut into 1-inch cubes
juice of 1 lemon
salt and red chili powder, to taste
1 cup yogurt
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp garlic
1 1/2 tbs tandoori masala
3 tbs butter
2 cardamoms
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
4 medium ripe tomatoes, blended
1 tbs tomato paste
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbs honey
1 tbs dried fenugreek leaves
250 ml thick cream
extra butter or coriander to garnish

Method:

Marinate the chicken cubes in lemon juice, salt, chili powder, yogurt, ginger, garlic and tandoori powder for at least half an hour. Overnight is best. Preheat the oven to the highest grill setting. Place the chicken on a baking tray closest to the grill and grill for at least 10 minutes on each side or until cooked. Allow the chicken to cook until it JUST starts to char.

To prepare the gravy, heat and melt the butter. Add to it the the cardamoms, cinnamon sticks and cloves. Stir fry for a minute before adding the tomatoes and tomato paste, Let this simmer on low to medium heat, half covered, for about 15-20 minutes. You will notice the gravy thicken and the oil will form a film on top. If the gravy is too thick, you can add a small amount of water. Add the rest of the ingredients as well as the grilled chicken and simmer for another 15 minutes. Garnish with butter or coriander.

Chinese Braised Soy Sauce Eggs (滷蛋)

Braised Eggs with Soy Sauce pictures (1 of 4)

I promised you my Chinese braised soy sauce eggs recipe (??) in the Taiwanese scallion oil noodles (????) post, so here you go. This is a super easy recipe, and the best thing is that you can save the braising soy sauce stock (???) in the fridge and re-use it again to make the eggs or even tofu (bean curd). I usually use the stock for 2-3 times before I discard it. As many Chinese cooks or chefs would tell you, the flavor of the braising stock develops as time goes by…some restaurants just keep using their stock for as long as they stay in the business (I kid you not!)…

One ingredient that I like to add to my braising stock is a spice tea bag used for braising a variety of foods—chicken, pork, beef, peanuts, seaweed, tofu, etc. (You can check out the product picture here). It’s available at Asian stores and they are cheap and handy. It’s optional but a tea bag of the spice adds to the aroma and overall flavor. To make perfect hard-boiled eggs, please refer to this kitchen tip by Good Life Eats.

Chinese Braised Soy Sauce Eggs

6-12 hard-boiled eggs
4 cups water
2 – 2 1/2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 stick cinnamon
3 star anise
1 spiced tea bag (????), optional
Salt to taste

Method:

Prepare the hard-boiled eggs. Peeled off the shell and set aside.

Heat up the water in a pot and bring it to boil. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the eggs) into the pot. Lower the heat to medium and boil for about 15-20 minutes, or until the stock is reduced and infused with the aroma of the star anise, cinnamon, and also the spice tea bag. Add the eggs into the stock and let steep in the stock for a few hours, you can lower the heat to simmer if you like. For the best result, leave the eggs in the braising stock  overnight to further develop the flavor.

Cook’s Note:

Dark soy sauce doesn’t have much flavor, it’s used to add color to the food. The amount you use depends how dark you want your eggs to be. I like it darker.

Malaysian Bak Kut Teh

Clay Pot Bak Kut Teh pictures (1 of 6)

It’s been almost two weeks since we arrived in Malaysia. Needless to say, I have been stuffing myself silly with lots of great food daily. I apologize for the lack of posting but there are just too much fun being home, especially during the festive Chinese New Year celebration. There are always friends and family to visit, places to go, foods to eat, etc. Anyway, the good news is that I am currently working with my designer on a brand new Rasa Malaysia Photoblog, a new sub-domain which is pretty much about my life in photographs. The Photoblog will be a great tool for me to share many things with you, without writing a lengthy post. I am just very excited. Please stay tuned for the launch…

Anyway, when I was in Kluang during the first few days of Chinese New Year, I tried out some of the best Bak Kut Teh in town. Bak Kut Teh originated from Klang, Malaysia. It’s a hearty soup made of pork ribs, Chinese herbs, mushrooms/wood ear, fresh lettuce, etc., and eaten with side dishes such as yam rice and fried youtiao. Bak Kut Teh is available throughout the day but I love it as my breakfast. Nothing comforts the empty stomach more than fall-off-the-bones pork ribs, fluffy yam rice, crispy fried youtiao, and the aromatic herbal-infused broth.

Here are the  photos of the Bak Kut Teh I had. My favorite is the clay pot Bak Kut Teh at Teoh Heng.

Restoran Teoh Heng (?????)
53 Jalan Lim Swee Sim,
Kluang Baru,
86000 Kluang, Johor
Phone: +6-016-754-4932

Rasa Malaysia Photoblog

For the longest time, I have wanted to have a Photoblog to document my daily life—sharing and preserving my memories through photographs. It’s about capturing moments, interesting objects, random snapshots in life.

So, here is the Rasa Malaysia Photoblog, which is pretty much my life in photos. It offers a glimpse of what I see, things I eat, places I go, my travels, and various sights through the lens of my camera. As I am home in Penang, Malaysia now, you can follow my day-to-day adventures on the Photoblog—which allows me to quickly write a post and share my experiences and daily life here.

Rasa Malaysia Photoblog is part of the Rasa Malaysia network, which includes the main site Rasa Malaysia, and its sister site Nyonya Food.

Welcome to my new domain. If you like what you see, please remember to subscribe to the RSS and the email.

Enjoy!

PS: The site is still buggy, so please pardon the dust while I work on the kinks.

Chili Crab (Crab in Sour and Spicy Sauce)

Sour and Spicy Crab (???) pictures (1 of 5)

We will be leaving for Malaysia to celebrate Chinese New Year tomorrow morning. Before I leave, I feel obliged to share a very delicious recipe with you, so here is my crab in sour and spicy sauce (???), or known as “chili crab” in Singapore. The timing couldn’t be better as Chinese (Lunar) New Year is just a few days away and I am sure many of you are scouring the web for a great recipe to share with the family.

I have an equally tasty home-style chili crab recipe (my late mother’s recipe) but this rendition with the eggy, sweet, sour, and spicy sauce is perfect for entertaining guests or simply when you want to have a crab feast. The sauce pairs beautifully with Chinese mantou—steamed or fried—as the bun sops up the scrumptious and addictive spicy and sour sauce. I prefer the soft and puffy steamed buns…

I made this for my good friends E and N last weekend and they practically begged me to share the recipe. I took them to the Asian market and got them the “starter kit” or ingredients to prepare this dish. For the crab, we are lucky as Dungeness crab is in season and the market will clean and cut it up for you. Save the shell and pick out the tamale or mustard inside the shell. Add them in the sauce and you will be rewarded with a richly flavorful sauce that you just can’t stop eating. You can also prepare this dish with mud crab, blue swimmer crab, or stone crab but I just love the fleshy Dungeness crab.

Enjoy!

Chili Crab (Crab in Sour and Spicy Sauce) Recipe

Ingredients:

2 – 2.5 lb Dungeness crab
3 tablespoons oil
3 garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, peeled and minced
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch + 2 tablespoons water (mix well)
1 egg, beaten
Salt to taste
12 steamed buns or mantou

Sour and Spicy Sauce

5 tablespoons ketchup
5 tablespoons Lingham’s Hot Sauce
1 heaping tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1/2 teaspoon Chinese rice vinegar or lime juice to taste
1 cup water

Method:

Clean the crab and cut into 6 pieces, drain the crab and discard the water seeping out of the crab. Pick out the tamale (or mustard) inside the crab shell, set aside. Discard the shell.

Mix all the ingredients in the Sour and Spicy Sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat up a wok and add the oil. When the oil is heated, add the minced garlic and ginger and stir fry until aromatic or when they turn slightly brown. Add the crab and the tamale into the wok, stirring for about 10 seconds. Add the Sour and Spicy Sauce, stir to blend well with the crab. Cover the wok with its lid and let cook for about 4-5 minutes.

Uncover the wok and slowly add the cornstarch mixture into the sauce. Stir the sauce until it thickens. Add the egg into the sauce and stir a few times so the egg is distributed evenly in the sauce. Cook for another 30 seconds or so, add salt to taste if needed. Dish out and serve immediately with the steaming hot buns.

Cook’s Notes:

If you can’t find Chinese steamed buns where you are, you can try out this recipe by Almost Bourdain.I strongly recommend Lingham’s Hot Sauce for the best result. You can purchase it online at AsianSupermarket365.com.If you can’t find Lingham’s Hot Sauce, you can make this dish with Sriracha but do adjust the quantity according to your taste as Sriracha is very spicy. If you use Sriracha, do add sugar into the sauce.

Samosa Recipe

I am very happy that Prerna of Indian Simmer is guest posting today as I have always loved Indian cuisine and one particular recipe that I wanted to learn is Samosa—a bite-sized parcel of spiced potatoes encased in a crispy shell. Prerna moved to the US five years ago and started Indian Simmer last year to share her love and passion in Indian cooking with a simple goal—making Indian food more approachable and appealing to all. Indian Simmer is graced with mouthwatering and authentic Indian recipes and her food photography is pure perfection. I am just so glad that now I have another great Indian cooking blog to refer to. Please welcome Indian Simmer to Rasa Malaysia and do check it out. It’s a gem and I am very sure that you will love it.

I have to admit, when Bee asked me if I would be able to share the recipe for Samosa on her blog, I was a bit worried. Not because I had never made it before but because I wanted to it be perfect enough for me to share it with everyone. I decided to reach out to the best Indian food chef that I know of and get some help. So I made an SOS call to my mom. She gave me some really important tips and also a lot of courage to do this and do this right…

Growing up it was a treat when guests would visit us for evening tea. I and my brother knew that Papa (our dad) would hand us a ten rupee bill and we would run over to the shop at the corner of the street to get some fresh out of the fryer samosas for everyone! Samosa is probably the most popular snack you can find in nearly every part of incredibly diverse India, in some form or the other. It’s a stuffed pastry which is mostly fried in oil and is triangular in shape. It is very simple to make, you just need to know the right tricks to put it together. Any kind of filling can be used from minced meat to something sweet like sweetened coconut filling but here I am sharing a recipe that has everyone’s favorite and most common filling in India – potato.

Samosa Recipe
Makes 14-16 samosas

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour (if you are familiar with Indian wheat flour or durum aata you can use that as well)
2 tbsp semolina (cream of wheat)
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
½ ajwain seeds (optional)
A little over 2/3 cups of water

For the filling:

2 medium sized potatoes (I use Yukon gold)
½ cup sweet green peas
1 cup thinly sliced onions
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp minced green chili
1 ½ tsp coriander powder (optional)

Method: (for the pastry)

Trick to kneading perfect dough – always add water in small portions. Dough for samosa pastry should be a little tougher. As a test, when you press your finger into it, you must have to apply a little pressure.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.

Add oil into the flour and mix it all very well together. To mix the oil well into the flour, take flour in small portions in your hand and rub it between your palms. To make sure that the oil is mixed well, hold the flour in your fist, press tightly and open the fist, the flour should still hold itself.

Now add water in small portions and try to make dough out of it. I easily used 2/3 cup of water and then a little extra to wet my hands for kneading.

Once the dough comes together, work it for another 5 minutes. Then wrap with a plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.

For the filling:

Boil potatoes. Cool and then mash them. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. Once they start to pop add chili and onion. Cook until onion becomes translucent. Then add peas and turmeric. Once the peas are cooked, add coriander powder, salt and mashed potatoes. Mix everything well together and set it aside for the mixture to cool before using them for filling.

Making Samosas:

The trick all samosa shop vendors use to make crisp samosas is that they use warm oil to fry their samosas. They drop them in oil which is a little over room temperature and slowly increase the temperature of oil. This cooks the outer pastry slowly, making them crisp. Frying them in hot oil makes the pastry soft and you don’t want that.

Start by rolling a lemon size ball of dough into a circle using a rolling pin. The flat circle should be around 11-12 cm in diameter.

Cut the big circle into two semicircles. Take about two spoons of potato mixture, make a ball off of it and place it in the center of the semicircle. Now dip your finger in water and rub it at the straight edge of the semicircle to make it wet so that it can stick.

Pick it from one side and place it over the potato ball covering it half way. Then pick the other side and place it over to the previous one, covering the potato to make a triangle shape. The two flaps should stick to each other right at the center of the samosa. The third side of the triangle should be still open. Use a little water, make it wet and stick the two flaps together with your finger. Repeat the process with the rest of the dough.

Use a wok or deep fryer to fry the samosas till they turn golden brown in color. Serve with your choice of sauce or chutney. Shop vendors in India sell them with green cilantro and tomato chutney along with some yogurt and tamarind chutney.